Hoping to return to national elite, USC defense, Miller Moss face first test against LSU

LOS ANGELES — For as long as he can remember, Miller Moss always wanted to play for Southern California.

He got to witness USC's quarterback legacy be carried by Matt Barkley and Sam Darnold, and the hometown kid appeared to be in line to be the next signal-caller when the four-star recruit walked onto campus in 2021. 

Moss had to sit behind Kedon Slovis and Jaxson Dart his freshman year, and even though both departed the program at the end of the season, then came the hiring of Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma. A few months later, Riley brought in Caleb Williams, his former quarterback with the Sooners, reigniting the program in his two seasons in Los Angeles with a Heisman Trophy and proving why he was selected first overall in the 2024 NFL draft. 

At any point, Moss could have been like the plethora of quarterbacks in recent years to transfer to a team they had a realistic shot of starting for. No one would have blamed him for doing so.

But Moss was undeterred. He knew he would get a chance. 

Now it has arrived. Moss will be the starting quarterback for No. 23 USC faces No. 12 LSU in Las Vegas on Sunday to open the 2024 season, the first in the Big Ten for a storied program out to prove it’s return to being a national power. 

In a fast-paced, constantly evolving world, patience worked. 

“I tried to approach it just like, if I keep doing the right things, if I keep showing up to work hard, if I keep investing in my team and myself, then my time will come,” Moss told USA TODAY Sports. “It's worked out to this point.”

As much as Riley said it was a battle for the starting job between Moss and UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava, Moss practically solidified his spot on the depth chart after his breakout performance in the 2023 Holiday Bowl. 

Playing in place of Williams, Moss threw darts and torched Louisville for 372 yards and a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdown passes, en route to being named the game’s offensive MVP in a 42-28 victory. It was such an impressive starting debut, Riley said after the game Moss might have scared off any transfer quarterback thinking of heading to Los Angeles.

Why Miller Moss stayed at USC

Still, Maiava went to the Trojans and put up a fight. Riley said he made drastic improvement in fall camp and he was “neck and neck” with Miller in the position battle. But it’s Moss who Riley will give the job too.

“Miller was still the best, and still the guy that we feel like gives this team the best chance to win and play well,” Riley said. “He's built off the momentum from the bowl game and from spring, and I think is playing at a high level, and has done it very consistently. It's his consistency every day as a player, as a leader, operating the offense that certainly part of what makes him the player that he is.”

It made the long wait worth it. Moss admitted it was “frustrating at times” to be on the sidelines for three seasons, appearing only when the game was out of hand or covering a few snaps for an injured starter. Even with those frustrations, transferring was never an option for the local kid.

“I think that's such a fad these days to transfer,” Moss said. “When I looked at it, my family looked at it, it wasn't about what other people were doing. I had to stay true to my process and who I was, and at every kind of inflection point, I guess you could say the right decision was to continue to stay at USC, continue to be developed. The right decision was for me to stay here, and I'm obviously glad I did.”

Learning from Caleb Williams

It may have been disheartening sitting behind a generational talent, Miller had nothing but praise for Williams, detailing the two had a great bond. Despite all the national attention he drew, Williams never looked down on the rest of the quarterback room, Moss said.

There were lessons taken from Williams too. One thing that stuck out to Moss was Williams’ supreme confidence regardless of his performance during practice or a game. He admired the positivity and belief he had every day. It was clear the two had a friendship when Williams was congratulating and hyping up Moss after the Holiday Bowl. 

The current USC quarterback does not know if Williams ever vouched for him to get the starting job, but the two did wish each other great success before parting. 

What did Williams tell Moss? “Just go let it rip,” he said.

“A lot of people see that, and might be surprised, just because it's very popular to kind of pit quarterbacks against each other,” Moss said. “But me and Caleb never really approached like that. I think at the end of the day, we always had a good understanding that what we're doing was collaborative, and we were trying to help our team win games.

“Competing with him for those two years really shaped who I was as a player and those are times I'd always be grateful for.”

Being part of USC's quarterback legacy

Moss knows the legacy he is stepping to, especially when the starter before him brought another Heisman Trophy to USC. While it’s an honor to be named starter, it’s about what he is able to do with the job. He’s not going to try to be like Williams or any of the other successful quarterbacks that have called the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum home. That may just be what it takes to be another successful Trojan signal caller.

“I don't think it's about anyone that's come before me or anyone that will come after me. I think it's just about me staying true to my process and how I play the game,” Moss said. “I think if I'm able to do that, then I'll be successful.”

Will the USC defense be improved?

For as much talk about Moss and him leading and offense with stars like speedster Zachariah Branch and center Jonah Monheim, evidence shows none of it will matter if the USC defense continues to be a revolving door. 

Last season, the Trojans gave up 34.4 points per game, which ranked 121st of 133 Bowl Subdivision teams, and was in the bottom half of several defensive categories. The unit was such a disaster, Riley had no choice but to fire his longtime defensive coordinator Alex Grinch after a disastrous performance against Washington.

Riley had to find someone that could quickly change the defense, and turns out, he didn’t need to look far. In fact, he only needed to go across town.  

USC was able to lure UCLA defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn after he completely revamped the Bruin defense. The proof that UCLA was an elite defensive unit was in the national stats, but Riley got a first-hand experience of how strong it was. In the crosstown showdown last season, UCLA held USC to 20 points and a just three rushing yards.

It was a no-brainer for Riley to get Lynn, and the defensive coordinator was stoked to join the Trojans, a team he’s always seen as the birthplace for successful professional defenders. 

“To get a chance to be a part of just a tradition and a culture like that, was an opportunity that I was excited about,” Lynn said. “Then you add that on top of going into the Big Ten, going into a new conference, with the challenge of revamping the defense, I felt like it was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.”

Joining a new conference will certainly present USC with all sorts of challenges. On top of having to deal with a tough non-conference slate that includes LSU and Notre Dame, the Trojans will also play Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State in a four-week span, giving them one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Knowing the physical nature of the Big Ten, Lynn and the staff sought out to bulk up not just the defense, but the entire team. It’s now a meaty Trojan squad that gained a combined 1,400 pounds during the offseason, according to USC's director of sports nutrition Rachel Suba.

Lynn wanted a more stout defensive line that perfectly fits with what it’ll face this season. By maximizing size and strength with less body fat and more muscle, the belief is the Trojans will be ready for the hard hits while maintaining speed. According to Lynn, every player that had a weight goal achieved it. 

“We didn't want to just put on weight, to put on weight. It has to be weight that that guy can hold,” he said. “We felt like with the guys that we had, each one of those guys still had room to hold more weight and play the same level of play, as far as the way that they move and their speed.”

 Lynn says the defense isn’t perfect just yet, but it will to continue to grow as the season develops.

“It's a new year, new defense. The past is the past,” Lynn said. “Our guys, they're excited to go out there and just show their improvements.”

Of course, the time for talking about how improved the defense will be is reaching its end. Now the Trojans need to validate they belong at the top of the Big Ten hierarchy. Riley is coming off the worst season of his head coaching career, and in the post-Williams era, it’s time to show results and prove it won’t fall down the same rabbit hole.

“It's got to go show up on Saturdays,” Riley said.